Determination of mycophenolic acid, penicillic acid, patulin, sterigmatocystin, and aflatoxins in cheese.

A method has been developed for detection of aflatoxins, mycophenolic acid, patulin, penicillic acid, and sterigmatocystin in cheese. It is based on selective extraction with a mixture of equal volumes of 5% sodium chloride, methanol, and aceton, precipitation of caseins at -25 C, defatting with hexane, and removal of extraneous matter by transfer of mycotoxins to chloroform and ethyl acetate. The extract is purified further by column chromatography. Mycotoxins are quantitated on thin layer chromatograms by fluorescence comparisons. Mycophenolic acid, patulin, and penicillic acid are visualized with diethylamine. The limits of detection in cheese are about 20 micrograms/kg for mycophenolic acid, patulin, and sterigmatocystin, 30 microgram/kg for pencillic acid, and 1 microgram/kg for aflatoxins B1 and M1.